The problem with washing and then letting them dry in the air is that you may leave a residue - especially if your water has a high mineral content like ours does. That's why a good cleaning system will vacuum the liquid away.

James Perrett wrote:Then they grind them to dust with a Crossley turntable - what a waste of time.

I've recently begun thinking about getting a turntable - what would you recommend in the under 500 class? pound, euros, or dollars, whatever you're used to, I can do the exchange rate without blowing a gasket.

I'm a bit out of touch with the current turntable market as I'm fairly happy with the old turntables that I've had for a while (Garrard 401, Lenco L75 and Sansui SR222). Plenty of people seem to like the Project range on a budget while others recommend Rega at a slightly higher price point. Personally I'd look at some of the Japanese turntables from the 70's and 80's (Sansui SR2x2, Trio/Kenwood KD1033, Pioneer PL112 etc) which used to be good value for money as they'd fallen out of fashion but even these seem to command higher prices these days.

I still have my Sansui 222 somewhere (fitted with an Ortofon cartridge). I spent two years reading HiFi magazines and building a HiFi system, I ended up with the Sansui turntable, a Sugden A48 amplifier and a pair of KefKit 3 speakers (basically kit built Kef Concertos). Then I stopped listening to HiFi and started listening to music again (and have never bought another HiFi magazine since) .

The KefKit 3's have been dismantled and the drivers and crossovers, barring one failed B139, are gathering dust. The Sugden has had a recent overhaul and will return to service in the 'editing suite' (a desk in my dance teacher wife's office) with the turntable and whatever speakers are available in the near future.

Can't remember what my Ortofon is but I'll check when I find the deck.... The one I bought was considered the 'best in class' when I bought mine though so I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same one you have.......

Bugger, you've got me all hankering after a proper turntable setup now...... But that involves tidying the workshop so I can make space for the detritus that is cluttering up the office, moving said clutter out of the office, making space on the appropriate desk and the moving all my wife's audio gear (multiple minidisk decks, CD recorders and cassette decks) down there then teaching her to use the reconfigured setup..........

Oh and adding a tieline to my Focusrite Saffire Pro24/Mac Pro/Reaper rig on the opposite side of the room so I can transfer my old vinyl.........

I'll third the recommendations for the Project decks and tone arms. Good value and good sound quality at the budget end of the market. Rega decks are a little better more up the price a bit.

But if you look around the pre-loved market you can often find pretty nice 'high-end' decks from the 70s and 80s going for a song. Most need some TLC to restore them to original spec (cleaning, lubrication, new drive belts, tone arm realignment, new cartridge etc) but requiring nothing beyond careful DIY skills.